1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved ball discharge assembly for a rotary grinding mill and more particularly to a grinding media discharger assembly for a rotary grinding mill which includes a ball scoop rotating with the mill which directs the balls to the discharge opening for deposit into a suitable receptacle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to discharge the grinding media of a rotary mill through manholes let into the wall of the mill. However, this construction requires a great number of different configured liner plates so as to accommodate the manhole construction. This, of course, increases the construction cost of the mill. Another manner to remove steel grinding balls from a rotary mill is by means of a traveling magnet structure which is mounted externally of the mill and arranged to travel into the mill on a truckway. The magnet is moved into the mill and magnetized to secure a load of the steel balls. The magnet with its load is withdrawn from the mill to deposit the load of balls into a bin. With this method of unloading the steel grinding balls from a mill, the magnet structure including the truckway is limited in size to the available discharge opening of the mill. Still another way of removing the steel grinding balls from a mill is by manual labor which, of course, is slow and tedious and in the case of large diameter mills, almost impossible.